Nate Marquardt
Nathan Joel Marquardt (born April 20, 1979 in Lander, Wyoming) is an American mixed martial artist. He is a three-time Middleweight King of Pancrase Champion and the former Strikeforce welterweight champion. Marquardt currently fights in the UFC's Middleweight division. Background and training Marquardt began his training in the martial arts as a teenager, studying the disciplines of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, kickboxing, Wing Chun, and Kenpo under instructor Alistair McNiven. Additionally, he took lessons in wrestling, and eventually began training under Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor Ricardo Murgel at age 18. Active in sports throughout high school, he contends that he did not become involved in the martial arts until he saw footage of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Although he is perhaps best known for his association with Greg Jackson's Gaidojutsu mixed martial arts team, Marquardt has also trained with Sanae Kikuta and the GRABAKA Dojo in Japan as well as American kickboxer and mixed martial artist Duane "Bang" Ludwig in Colorado. Marquardt runs an academy, High Altitude Martial Arts, located in Aurora, Colorado. Career Marquardt began his professional mixed martial arts career in 1999, amassing victories in various promotions before entering the Bas Rutten Invitational 4 tournament, which was organized in such a manner that the tournament winner was to be offered a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Despite winning the tournament, Marquardt was offered no such contract. Instead, he signed with Japan's Pancrase organization, which had fostered such fighters as Ken Shamrock and Bas Rutten. In his first Pancrase fight, Marquardt lost via submission to Genki Sudo. Invited back to Pancrase for a middleweight elimination tournament, Marquardt defeated Daiju Takase, Kiuma Kunioku, and Shonie Carter to become the first middleweight King of Pancrase. Marquardt defended this title twice before being defeated by Kunioku in December 2001. A final encounter between the two fighters in December 2002 saw Marquardt defeat Kunioku once again to recapture the King of Pancrase championship, which he held for nearly a year. Almeida incident On November 30, 2003, Marquardt was involved in a brief altercation with middleweight opponent Ricardo Almeida in a Pancrase title fight. Marquardt, who was caught in a guillotine choke, tapped out; (Some believe that the referee mistook a repositioning of Marquardt's hand to be a tap. Thus causing Marquardt to believe the fight had not been ended.) The referee, however, was unable to immediately separate the fighters, and the choke remained applied around Marquardt's neck. After he was freed, Marquardt threw a strike at Almeida's face, prompting both corners to storm into the ring – including Renzo Gracie. Renzo was cornering Almeida, and once in the ring he kicked Marquardt in the face. The confrontation eventually came to an end, and Marquardt approached Almeida after the bout to congratulate him. After Almeida vacated his title in July 2004, Marquardt proceeded to regain the championship in a victory over Kazuo Misaki at Pancrase: Brave 10. Transition to the UFC On May 1, 2005, Marquardt defeated Izuru Takeuchi, winning the Pancrase middleweight championship for a seventh time – the only fighter to ever accomplish such a feat. It was then announced that Marquardt would be making his debut with the UFC in August, live on Spike TV, headlining the inaugural Ultimate Fight Night card in Las Vegas, Nevada. Although his debut ended in success – Marquardt earned a decision victory over UFC veteran Ivan Salaverry – post-fight drug testing controversy led to Marquardt's suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Marquardt tested positive for high levels of nandrolone, which led the commission to file for his suspension. Marquardt maintains that he only used over-the-counter supplements in preparation for his fight. Marquardt was initially suspended for six months and assessed no fine.http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Jan-07-Sat-2006/sports/5251688.html. Marquardt's suspension was reduced to five months and he was reinstated in January 2006. With the drug testing controversy resolved, Marquardt was set to make his return to the UFC at UFC 58, fighting a mixed martial arts veteran in Joe Doerksen. The fight proved to be a successful endeavor for Marquardt, as he won a unanimous decision. In the post-fight interview, Marquardt stated his goals of capturing the UFC middleweight championship and his intention to fight then-champion Rich Franklin. Marquardt then fought Crafton Wallace – a replacement for Marquardt's original opponent, Thales Leites – on the undercard of Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3: The Final Chapter on October 10, 2006, winning by rear naked choke in the second round. Due to his commitment to the UFC, Marquardt relinquished his title as the middleweight King of Pancrase that same month. At UFC Fight Night 8, Marquardt notched a dominant three-round decision victory over ADCC champion grappler Dean Lister that saw two judges score the bout 30-25 for Marquardt. Middleweight title shot Following that victory and a 4-0 debut in the UFC, Marquardt was scheduled to compete for the UFC middleweight championship held by Anderson Silva on July 7, 2007 at UFC 73. Marquardt lost the championship bout by technical knockout due to strikes. After early speculation that Marquardt's contract with the UFC could expire without renewal, he confirmed that a new agreement had been signed with the organization. Marquardt's next match was to be against Thales Leites at UFC 81, but Leites withdrew from the bout due to an injured hand. This marked the second time that a bout between Leites and Marquardt had been cancelled. On January 9, the UFC announced that veteran Jeremy Horn would be Leites' replacement. Marquardt defeated Horn via guillotine choke. Marquardt finally fought Thales Leites at UFC 85–a fight that had been postponed on two separate occasions since 2006. Marquardt controlled Leites for the second and third round of the fight but landed an illegal knee strike to the head of Leites in the second round and an elbow to the back of the head in the third. The deducted points proved to be crucial in the judging as Leites was deemed victorious in a very controversial split decision, giving Leites a title shot against Anderson Silva. Marquardt was next scheduled to face Martin Kampmann. Nate defeated Kampmann in 82 seconds by throwing a head kick and landing a barrage of strikes to take the win by TKO in the first round. Marquardt obtained a second straight win to launch himself back into the title picture at UFC 95, when he defeated well-regarded Brazilian fighter Wilson Gouveia with another barrage of strikes to earn a third round TKO. Marquardt's next fight was against the then-undefeated submission specialist Demian Maia at UFC 102, which he won via KO 21 seconds into the first round by landing a counter straight right as Maia threw a high kick. Maia fell face down, unable to protect himself. Nate rushed in to follow up with a right hook, but stopped himself once he saw that Maia was visibly hurt. Following his victory over Maia, Marquardt was scheduled to fight Dan Henderson to determine number 1 contendership to Silva's Middleweight Championship. However Henderson left the UFC for Strikeforce after attempts to agree on a new contract failed. A new bout was arranged between Marquardt and American wrestler Chael Sonnen, scheduled for UFC 110 and later moved to UFC 109. Despite being the favourite to win, Marquardt was taken down at will by Sonnen multiple times during each round. Although able to lock in a guillotine choke late in the 3rd round, Marquardt was not able to finish the submission attempt and lost the fight via unanimous decision. On, September 15, 2010, Marquardt TKO'd submission artist Rousimar Palhares. Palhares went for a heel hook before Marquardt slipped out and leaped in with a punch that started a sequence of finishing blows. Following his win over Palhares, Marquardt faced Japanese fighter Yushin Okami. Marquardt was unable to land any significant strikes during fight and Okami cruised to a unanimous decision victory. Marquardt was expected to face Yoshihiro Akiyama on March 19, 2011 at UFC 128. However, Akiyama pulled out of the bout and was replaced by Dan Miller. Marquardt won the fight via unanimous decision. Drop to Welterweight and release from the UFC After defeating Miller, Nate's teammate, Georges St Pierre, gave him the idea of dropping down to 170. Marquardt was expected to debut at welterweight against Anthony Johnson on June 26, 2011 at UFC on Versus 4. However, Johnson was forced out of the bout with a shoulder injury and replaced by Rick Story. Marquardt pulled out of the fight with Story the day of the weigh-ins due to not receiving medical clearance. The UFC at the UFC on Versus 4 weigh-in announced that Marquardt did not pass the required physical. According to a video posted by Dana White on his Twitter, Nate Marquardt has now been released by the UFC due to failing "medical requirements". On June 28, 2011, Nate appeared on MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani and stated that in August 2010 he felt tired and moody and his doctor discovered he had low testosterone levels. That doctor put Nate on hormone replacement therapy, and when Nate applied for a Therapeutic Use Exemption with the New Jersey state commission, they allowed it but declared that he must go off the therapy for ten weeks, then have his levels retested by a specialist to determine if he really needs to be on the therapy or not. At the end of that period, both the specialist and Nate's primary doctor agreed his levels really were low and he was a candidate for replacement therapy. Nate's primary doctor injected him with testosterone to quickly get his levels back up in time for his scheduled fight against Story. The Pennsylvania commission had set standards for what his testosterone levels could be at fight time and Nate's levels, though trending down over the last week before the fight, still failed to fall to within the range required in time for him to be cleared to fight. Nate claimed that he retook tests on the day of the fight and was actually within qualifying limits, thus having his suspension lifted by the commission. BAMMA Shortly after having his suspension lifted by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission, Marquardt signed with top U.K. fight promotion BAMMA, the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts. He told MMAWeekly.com that a large part of the reason for signing with BAMMA was that even though the U.K. does not conduct governmental sanctioning of MMA, BAMMA officials were moving ahead with their own plans to self-regulate, including medical screening and drug testing. He was set to make his promotional debut at BAMMA 9: Marquardt vs Yoshida on February 11, 2012 against Yoshiyuki Yoshida to determine the inaugural BAMMA Welterweight Champion. On January 13, 2012, Marquardt was released from his contract with BAMMA officially due to the promotion pushing back BAMMA 9, and therefore his promotional debut, to March 24, 2012. Sources close to the situation believe that the release was due to the promotion not being able to afford the fighter's contract. Strikeforce Marquardt signed with Strikeforce and faced Tyron Woodley on July 14, 2012. Marquardt knocked out woodley with elbows and punches in round 4. On Strikeforce's final card before they closed doors, Marquardt attempted to defend his Strikeforce title against up-and-comer Tarec Saffiedine. For 5 rounds Saffiedine battered the lead leg of Marquardt with leg kicks, Marquardt lost by unanimous decision. UFC return On March 15, 2013, Marquardt faced Jake Ellenberger. Marquardt lost by KO in round one. Marquardt returned to fight Hector Lombard at UFC 166. Marquardt lost by KO in round one. Return to Middleweight Marquardt has now moved back up to Middleweight and is now scheduled to face James Te-Huna at UFC Fight Night - Marquardt vs. Te Huna. Personal life Marquardt has a wife named Tessa. The couple is expecting their first child together in May 2010. Nate has a daughter named Emmalie from a previous relationship. Other accomplishments * 1999 World Vale Tudo Federation Champion * 1999 I.M.A. Rumble In The Rockies Champion * 1999 Bas Rutten Invitational 4 Lightweight Champion * 2000 Ring of Fire Middleweight Champion * 2002 Pancrase Spirit Tour Champion * Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Ricardo Murgel * 2nd Degree Black Belt in Pancrase Mixed Martial Arts/Jiu-Jitsu Mixed martial arts record References External links *Nate Marquardt official site * *Nate Marquardt official Myspace Category:American mixed martial artists Category:Middleweight mixed martial artists Category:American practitioners of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Category:Living people Category:1979 births